New Parliament For Scotland

The newly elected members of Scotland's first Parliament in nearly 300 years took their oaths of office Wednesday with the Labor and Liberal Democrat parties still unable to work out a power-sharing deal.

Britain's governing Labor Party captured the most seats in the new assemblies in Scotland and Wales in last week's elections, but failed to win a clear majority in either.

The second-ranking party in the Scottish vote, the Scottish National Party, is at odds with Labor over the nationalist goal of independence for Scotland, so it is the third-ranked Liberal Democrats with whom Labor is negotiating a coalition.

Although the Parliament will not be inaugurated officially until Queen Elizabeth II opens it July 1, the first sitting was held Wednesday to swear in the members and elect officers.

Like the other members, Nationalist leader Alex Salmond swore his allegiance to the queen and "her heirs and successors," but he preceded his oath with a clear statement of his belief in the sovereignty of the Scottish people.

"For the Scottish National Party parliamentary group, loyalty is with the people of Scotland, in line with sovereignty of the people," he said. "I know that all members of this Parliament will share that view."

As the hours-long procedure got under way, several others made the same point, yet took the full oath as a strictly legal requirement.

Labor and the Liberal Democrats finished their latest bargaining session late Tuesday with key issues unresolved. Chief among them was the Liberal Democrats' commitment to abolish university tuition fees, a move opposed by Labor.

Coalition talks were to resume Wednesday afternoon.

Labor finished with 56 seats in the 129-member Edinburgh chamber. The Scottish National Party got 35 seats, the Conservatives, 18, and the Liberal Democrats, 17. Three independents also landed seats.

In Wales, Labor will go it alone and run the government without an overall majority. Labor leader Alun Michael firmly ruled out sharing power and said he intended to persuade rival parties to support Labor's policies on a case-by-case basis.

Labor won 28 seats - two short of a majority - in the 60-seat Welsh Assembly, and Plaid Cymru won 17. The Conservatives won nine seats and the Liberal Democrats, six.

All 60 members, sworn in over the last couple of days, gathered this morning in Cardiff to choose their leaders.

Michael was nominated unopposed as first secretary and Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas of the nationalist Plaid Cymru party was chosen, also unopposed, as presiding officer, the equivalent of speaker of the house.

The queen is to inaugurate the Welsh Assembly on May 26.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed the bodies in Scotland and Wales as part of a radical constitutional shake-up.